The temperature was great. But the wind condition wasn’t in my favor today. I was planning on going to SS, but the winds didn’t permit. The legs felt heavy today. Felt sluggish from the start, and never got much better. Even after warming up. I felt best going up Banducci. Likely, with the tailwind on the way up. Yesterday, I found out why the bike was making all sorts of noises. It was the rear cassette that had gotten loose. There appeared to be no damage, so I tightened the locking ring. And, that did the trick. The bike is nice and silent. After Banducci, I made my way through the farmlands. It was either strong cross or strong tail winds the entire way back. I was struggling to keep 10MPH going into the wind. It was that difficult. I was relieved when I reached the last climb as it provided some shelter from the wind. After making the summit, I made my way to Route 202, mostly fun and games from there. The legs were spent when I was making my way up Mariposa. No punch left. Concentration was good, but not great. Fortunately, no gremlins to mention of. Balance and form was good. Ailments next to none, other than fatigue and lack of liveliness in the legs. I was having some difficulties in the stomach on the last 5 to 7 miles of the ride. The Accelerade wasn’t agreeing. I was having to dilute with my bottle of water. Drinking more water than Accelerade. I was having number 1 signs, so that didn’t help either. Gear worked great. No problems there. Other notes, I saw 5 or 6 cyclist on their way down OTR as I was ascending.

Edit: I had fun practicing the tuck going into the tailwind. I'm getting better and more confident in my skill.s